Meeting Mother
by Buretsu
Summary: Followup to Golden Valentine. What will Rika's mother say about her daughter's love? Help arrives from the unlikeliest of sources. More Rurena.
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon. Did you expect me to say anything else?  
  
Their arms around each other, Rika and Renamon looked out over the city, full moon bright in the clear night sky. They noticed none of it, lost as they were in each other's eyes.  
  
"My Mom's gonna freak…" Rika sighed. "And probably my grandmother as well." Her mother she knew would go into conniptions, but she was truly worried her grandmother wouldn't approve if she knew the complete truth.  
  
Renamon chuckled. "Your mother I don't know about," she said, stroking Rika's hair with one hand, "but your grandmother's not going to mind."  
  
Rika pulled away slightly and looked up at Renamon. "And how exactly do you know that?"  
  
"She's a lot more observant than either of us give her credit for," Renamon said fondly. "That, and I talked to her a couple of nights ago."  
  
'And how do you know she wasn't the one who sent them?' Rika's grandmother's voice said in Rika's memory.  
  
"She just wants to see you happy," Renamon continued, "like I do."  
  
Good old Grandma, Rika thought. "That's good at least. Sigh. I'm not sure what's going to be worse for my mother, that fact that you're not human, or the fact that you're not a guy," Rika chuckled, pressing against Renamon's sturdy chest. "She's going to have a double heart attack."  
  
"At least," Renamon chuckled, her tail slowly wrapping around the back of Rika's waist.  
  
"Might as well make it a triple," Rika murmured, pulling Renamon's head in closer. Their lips met again in another passionate kiss, longer this time. When they finally pulled away, Rika whispered in Renamon's ear. "You know, I'm really starting to love Valentine's Day. Now that I have somebody to spend it with."  
  
"And it's such a beautiful night too," Renamon agreed. The night air was chilly, but the warmth of Rika more than made up for it. She was especially fond of the moon; it had been her only companion nights long past. The full moon was especially lovely. "It's just a shame that you'll have to leave soon."  
  
"I don't know about that," Rika smiled slyly, "I brought a blanket, and I doubt my grandmother will mind if I'm a little late."  
  
With a grin, Rika spread the blanket on the ground and lay down on top of it. She patted the spot next to her, and Renamon settled in. The two wrapped their arms around one another, enjoying the closeness and tenderness of the moment.  
  
"What about your?" Renamon laughed.  
  
"Guess it's going to be a quadruple," Rika whispered, snuggling in closer to Renamon. She had dreamt of a moment like this for the longest time, and it was everything she had imagined.  
  
******  
  
"Where can she be?" Rika's mother, Mikino, asked when midnight passed and Rika still wasn't home. She paced up and down the room hands clasped behind her back. "She should have been home an hour ago!"  
  
"I guess she really liked who her secret admirer was," Rika's grandmother, Rumiko, smiled. She was sitting on a chair, waiting out her daughter's nervous panic.  
  
"I hope not too much," Mikino replied. Staying at guys' houses was very dangerous. She could attest to that fact herself.  
  
"You don't want her to end up like you did," Rumiko said. She had a way of cutting through the crap and getting straight to the point. Rika loved it, but her mother didn't.  
  
Mikino narrowed her eyes. "A bit tactless, Mother, but true nonetheless. I want her to have every opportunity I didn't have."  
  
"Well, there's one thing she can do to assure she won't follow in your footsteps," Rumiko hinted. That wasn't why she supported Rika, but it was quite possibly the only thing that might change Mikino's mind.  
  
"Don't think I don't get what you're trying to say," Rika's mother said, "but I honestly don't know which is worse."  
  
"On one hand, you'll have a very happy daughter. On the other hand, you'll be a rather disappointed grandmother. Doesn't seem like too tough a choice to me," Rumiko said, walking out of the room. If only it was that simple, especially considering the unique nature of Rika's love.  
  
"Where are you going?" Mikino asked, turning to her mother.  
  
"Off to bed. I trust my granddaughter," Rumiko replied smugly.  
  
Mikino looked at the window, rivulets of water running down it. "I trust her to have the sense to come in from the rain at least."  
  
******  
  
"Well, it was a beautiful night," Rika laughed, holding the blanket above her head as she ran for better cover. Renamon was right beside her, soaked almost down to her skin, the same as Rika's clothes. They had fallen asleep in each other's arms, and they hadn't woken up until Rika started to sneeze from the cold rain.  
  
"I still wouldn't change a single thing," Renamon told her, and Rika agreed. "We do need to find some shelter, though. There's a cave near here where I often spend the night."  
  
"I need to find a phone," Rika said, looking around. She needed to let her grandmother know where she was, not so much her mother.  
  
"I believe that there's one over there," Renamon said, pointing in the direction of a pay phone. Holding the blanket over their heads so as not to get any wetter, they ran for the phone. Rika dialed her house, and her mother picked up.  
  
"Hello?" Mikino said quickly.  
  
"Oh, hi Mom, it's Rika," Rika said, as if nothing was wrong.  
  
"RIKA! Where the heck are you? I've been expecting you for over an hour," her mother said.  
  
"I'm fine Mom. I left with my secret admirer. I'll be staying at their place tonight. I'll see you tomorrow," Rika said, starting to hang up the phone.  
  
"What? Rika, wait!" her mother said, just as the phone went back on the hook. "Don't make the same mistakes I made," she would have said.  
  
"Now, where's that cave of yours?" Rika asked, putting her mother out of her mind. "I could really use a dry place to sleep."  
  
Renamon nodded and led Rika over to the little cave near their meeting place where she often spent the night. "It's not much," she said once they arrived, "but I call it home."  
  
It was a fairly small cave, but there was certain warmth to it despite the fact that it was mostly barren rock. "We'll have to work on where you call home," Rika said as Renamon began to shake herself dry. If Rika had anything to say about it, Renamon's home would be her own house "For now, let's see about a fire."  
  
"I always keep some dry wood around," Renamon told Rika, dropping a pile of branches on the ground. "It can get pretty cold here at night. I have some flint over here," Renamon said, reaching for a pair of rocks.  
  
"We don't need that," Rika said, pulling out her digivice and cardholder. Renamon looked at her strangely, and Rika shrugged. "Never leave home without 'em," she laughed, selecting a card. "Digimodify! Meramon!" Renamon blew a puff of fire at the pile of wood in the center of the room, and a fire was soon burning merrily.  
  
"That should warm things up nicely," Rika said, extending her hands towards the fire. Despite the warmth, she shivered, soaked clean through. "Umm, Renamon? It, uhh, would be easier for me to get warm if…"  
  
"If you didn't have such wet clothes on," Renamon finished with a nod. "I should have something else to use as a blanket somewhere."  
  
Renamon turned to go find a blanket as Rika peeled off her wet clothes, laying them out on the floor near the fire to dry. Renamon politely held a blanket she had found behind her back, and Rika took it and wrapped it around herself, settling down next to the fire.  
  
"Much better," Rika sighed happily. Renamon stood across the fire from Rika, shivering slightly. Rika took a deep breath to settle her nerves before speaking up. "Uhh, Renamon? You know, there's plenty of room under the blanket."  
  
"You sure?" Renamon asked. When Rika nodded, Renamon nervously walked over and sat down next to Rika. Renamon politely averted her eyes as Rika lifted the blanket to include Renamon under it.  
  
"You have the nicest warm fur," Rika smiled, pressing up closer to Renamon, and letting out a yawn. "Now, where were we before the rain started?" she mumbled, laying her head on Renamon's chest.  
  
Renamon wrapped her arms and tail around Rika protectively as the young girl began to snore softly. "Good night, Rika," she said, placing a kiss on Rika's cheek. Resting her head beside Rika's, Renamon soon fell asleep, warmer than she had ever been in her life. 


	2. Chapter 2

Rika's mother barely got a wink of sleep over worry for her daughter. For her safety, but also for her future. Spending the night at a guy's house, and so young! She would have a few choice words for her little girl when she showed up.  
  
"Tell me," Mikino said as soon as Rika walked through the door. "Tell me nothing happened."  
  
"That depends on your definition of nothing is," Rika smirked. She rather enjoyed making her mother squirm.  
  
"You know very well what I mean, young lady," Mikino said, narrowing her eyes.  
  
"Honey," Rika's grandmother said slowly. There was no sense working the poor woman up any more.  
  
"Oh all right," Rika sighed. "Don't worry, Mother, nothing happened. I just slept over. I don't plan to make the same mistakes you did," she added wryly.  
  
"Don't get smart with me, young lady. So, where and who is this secret admirer of yours?"  
  
"You won't like the answer, Mom," Rika told her mother nervously. After waking up in the morning, she and Renamon had discussed what would happen next. Things were about to take a turn for the worse.  
  
"Oh? And why wouldn't I?" Mikino asked, hands on hips.  
  
"Are you sure you want to answer that?" Rika's grandmother asked her. She hoped the answer would be yes. Rika nodded.  
  
"Because," Rika said slowly, "the one waiting for me last night was nothing like you thought."  
  
"Who is it?"  
  
Rika lowered her head as Renamon stepped into the room. "Mom," she said, "I'd like you to meet someone."  
  
Mikino recoiled from the strange fox creature. "Is this some sort of joke? Is that supposed to be a kitsune?" Why was her daughter trying to play stupid tricks?  
  
Renamon knelt beside Rika, head bowed. She could only hope Rika's mother would understand. "My name is Renamon. I am no kitsune, yet I am not human either."  
  
"I know… You're one of those Digimon things, aren't you?" Mikino grimaced. She remembered the name well. "One of those foul creatures like that pig beast who very nearly destroyed the city."  
  
"For your information, Mother" Rika said, lifting her head and fairly spitting out the last word. Her eyes blazed with anger. "Renamon is one of the 'creatures' that saved the city! And she's as far from foul as possible!"  
  
"I don't care if that thing saved my life personally! I won't have my daughter hanging around with some twisted freak of nature! And you!" Mikino yelled, turning on her mother. "You knew about this all along, didn't you? About that thing, and my daughter?"  
  
Rumiko nodded. "I've known about Renamon since after the attack on the city. Only recently did I learn just how deeply she cared about my granddaughter."  
  
"How," Mikino said, shaking her head. "How could you allow this?"  
  
"You want to know how?" Rika's grandmother countered angrily. "No matter what she may be, Renamon makes my daughter happier than she's been in a very long time. Rika loves her, and she loves my granddaughter right back."  
  
"How do you even know this thing is even capable of love?" Mikino said, staring disgustedly at Renamon.  
  
"I used to ask myself that same question all the time," Rika spoke up. Renamon had stood up and was now behind Rika, her tail wrapped around the young girl's waist, all four of their hands clasped across Rika's chest. "And every time I answered the same way, no. I used to see Renamon the way you do right now, mother, as a thing. To me, she was nothing more than a tool, to be used as I saw fit, and put away without a second thought. And then, she saved my life.  
  
"I started to wonder if maybe I could have been wrong, if maybe she really did care for me. However, I couldn't accept the fact that I might have been wrong, so I convinced myself that Renamon saw me as I saw her, as a tool. A short time after that, it happened. I was shown where the path I was on led, and it frightened me to death."  
  
Rika shivered at the memory of Ice Devimon and Renamon hugged her tighter. Ice Devimon had held Rika in much the same way, only instead of cold and distant like then, the contact now was warm and comforting. Rika swallowed hard and continued.  
  
"Once again my stubbornness prevented me from making the right choice. Instead of changing myself to change my path, I threw away the tool. I turned my back on Renamon and walked away. But it seemed no matter what I did, it seemed I could never move too far away. I'm grateful for that now. It allowed me to be there when Renamon proved just how strong she could be without me. And then she showed me something else. She showed me that it didn't matter how strong she was if I wasn't there to share it with her.  
  
"It was then that I did the hardest thing I had done in all my life. I realized that I had been wrong all this time, that Renamon was more than a tool and that she actually cared for me. Because of that, I knew that I couldn't stand back and let anything happen to Renamon. It was then that I saved her life.  
  
"I wasn't completely sure how I felt about her, I guess kept it buried, afraid of what others might think. Gradually, I figured out exactly how I felt, and last night I was finally able to admit it. I love Renamon, more than anything else, and nothing you can do or say will change that."  
  
"That may be," Mikino said, "but until then, there is one thing I can do. I forbid you two from ever seeing each other. Now, I want that disgusting thing off of my daughter and out of my house!"  
  
"Mom!" Rika protested. Why couldn't she understand that Renamon made her truly happy?  
  
"Honey," Rika's grandmother started.  
  
Mikino slammed her fist down onto a table. "Get that thing out of here before I have it removed."  
  
Renamon closed her eyes and sighed. There really didn't seem to be a choice. "Very well."  
  
"But, Renamon…" Rika said, turning her head in surprise.  
  
"Don't worry," Renamon breathed, kissing Rika's cheek. Rika's mother shuddered. "I'm always just a whisper away."  
  
Renamon disappeared from the room, leaving Rika holding herself. She held her cheek for a second, eyes closed, before opening her mouth to speak. Her mother cut her off.  
  
"Go to your room, and stay there," Mikino said, pointing. "I'll come get you when it's time for dinner, and don't think I won't check to see if you're alone."  
  
"I'm not some little kid anymore, Mom!" Rika raged. "You can't just send me to my room when I do something you don't approve of!"  
  
"Watch me," her mother countered. "I'm your mother, young lady, and when I tell you to go to your room, I expect you to go to your room!"  
  
"I'm out of here," Rika shook her head, turning to walk out the door. Her mother, moving with surprising speed grabbed her wrist. Rika struggled, protesting, but her mother refused to let go and half dragged the girl towards her room.  
  
"And stay there," Mikino said, "until I can figure out exactly how to take care of this situation."  
  
If looks could kill, Rika's mother would have been long gone. As it was, she merely walked away, shaking her head. Rika's grandmother stopped at the doorway to talk to her granddaughter.  
  
"Why can't that woman understand?" Rika asked angrily. Her grandmother could only shake her head.  
  
"She's old, and set in her ways," Rumiko said. The attempt at adding humor didn't work. "I'm fairly sure that, given time, she'll come around. Just try not to do anything that'll make it worse, okay? Like, leaving?"  
  
Rika reluctantly agreed. "All right, I promise I won't do anything like that. I just wish…"  
  
"I know dear. Well, your mother does have that photo shoot tomorrow, and I'm sure I can find some errands that need running."  
  
Rika smiled. "Thanks, Grandma," she said, turning to her deck of Digimon cards. Rumiko smiled fondly and walked away. Neither one of them saw the strange fog creeping in until it had nearly completely enveloped Rika's room.  
  
"Rika? Could we talk for a few minutes?" Mikino called a few hours later. There was no response. "Honey?" she asked again, rounding the corner in time to witness the last of the fog dissipate. Rika wasn't there. 


End file.
